Another Thanksgiving WDW trip report

[breezy8407]

We were also there from 11/20 - 11/27. We had 6 days of park passes. Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside with the Disney Dining Plan. General disclaimer: I am not a big Disney person, so my tone in some of this might be negative but only because I don't like crowds or lines, and I get anxiety over both easily. My biggest con overall was waiting for the Disney buses. I was so ready to go home after our 12 hour days. Another comment on the meal plan...we did the mid level plan and found it to be too much food for us. We are not big dessert eaters, either. I didn't realize each adult gets their own dessert with table service! It just felt excessive by the end. I used a lot of snack credits on water and Starbucks. It did however, make it easy to eat. No worrying about money and ordering online was really easy for the QS meals. 

11/20: First time flying for for the kids, so they were excited. (6 y/o twins) Our flight was at 9am, so not terribly early. Once we took off though, they were really only into watching movies on the in seat screens. Flight was on time, no issues. We did the Magical Express. I didn't like how long we had to wait to get on the bus, and once we were on we sat on the bus for 30+ minutes before departing. I was a little stressed because I had a Prime Now delivery scheduled and it was cutting it close! We arrived and checked in quickly. The resort grounds were really nice and everything was really clean. Our room was very basic but I think almost all the WDW mid-level resort rooms are about the same. Our plan was to go to Epcot the first day since there were extra magic hours that night. Our checked baggage never arrived before we left, so I was a little annoyed with that. We packed most everything we needed in our carry ons though.  We had a fast pass for Spaceship Earth, but the line was insane. We think it had gone down at some point before we arrived, so we skipped it. We did the Nemo ride next, then we had another fast pass for Frozen. It was a really great ride! Dinner was at Garden Grille. The food was really good, but we weren't overly impressed. The kids were not as excited about the characters as I thought. We did Living with the Land and surprisingly the kids liked it. Next we walked around a bit before the light show. After that, H wanted to try to get on Soarin during magic hours, so we did that even though it got really late. What a cool ride. I think DS was kind of startled by it We finally got to the bus line and we waited over 30 minutes before one even showed up. I think we finally got to bed a bit before midnight. 

11/21: Hollywood Studios. It was an early morning after our late first night, but the kids weren't complaining at all. We decided on HS this day because of Magic Hours and hoping to get onto Slinky Dog. We never did all day, and I guess we didn't get there early enough even with the magic hours.  (It was the only ride we weren't able to get on that we wanted to the whole trip, so I consider it a success.) The wait was always over an hour, and we decided we were not waiting more than 40 minutes for anything. It looked like a cool ride, but outside of Toy Story land, it would be a pretty tame coaster. (The kids and H have season passes for Valleyfair, the amusement park here, so they have been on some big coasters already) Toy Story land in general was really cool though. The theming was awesome. We had fast passes for Toy Story Mania, Star Wars, and Tower of Terror. First was Tower of Terror, and the kids and I skipped it. I don't like heights and the kids were a little scared, so H rode it himself. Then we saw the Beauty and the Beast show. We had lunch at Backlot which was insanely busy. We had to wait forever to find an empty table. Food was meh. Next was fast pass for Star Wars which was fun. The kids liked it. Next was Toy Story Mania and it was such a cool ride! I wish we could have done it again, but the lines were too long. It was getting to be hard to walk after lunch. We also saw Little Mermaid in there somewhere. Dinner was at Mama Melrose - food was great and really good service. The kids were getting exhausted and we were crabby, so we basically headed home after that. We waited a really long time for busses yet again. I think we got back to our room by 8:30. 

11/22: Epcot for Thanksgiving Day. This was close to my favorite day...I've always loved Epcot. We did extra magic hours, but got there right after rope drop, so we were able to get right onto Soarin. After that we went right to Frozen and got right on. It was perfect. Our Fast Passes that day were Spaceship Earth, Test Track, and Mission Space. We had lunch at the English fish and chips place and it was probably one of my favorite meals. ha. The beer and fish were excellent. H decided we were going to do the more intense Mission Space ride...I started to question it when they hand you a warning card. I started to google more about he ride and started to feel panicked...I am very claustrophobic. Once we finally got to the room with the ride cars, I freaked out and had to get off. It was way too tight and seeing the barf bags IN the ride was the final straw. H wasn't happy that I caused the kids to want to get off at the time. After the ride he told me it was the right decision. He said he felt off for a few hours after it! Once we got out, they moved him into a different simulator room because he was a single rider and the original room we were in was delayed because they were waiting for custodial to clean up a car after someone got sick. We definitely made the right call to get off. The kids requested to do Living with the Land again, so we did that. Dinner was the German Buffet. We learned the hard way that all members of your party have to be present to check in for reservations. I had left to take DD to the bathroom and had to walk all the way over to China and the crowds were getting insane. So when we finally got back, we still had to wait another 20 minutes just to check in. A lot of people were angry in the line...asking what was the point of a reservation? So dinner was fine, but we were all pretty tired and crabby. We left after dinner. 

11/23: Magic Kingdom. Hoo boy. This was my least favorite day. I guess I am not a MK person. Firstly, we waited over 40 minutes for a bus, so we got there way later than we wanted. We expected it to be insane, but I guess you can never imagine just how bad it can be! I think there was extra magic hours this day? I can't remember. We went straight for Buzz, then the Speedway. Waited for both pretty minimally. Our first fast pass was Priates, then Big Thunder mountain railroad. It was down for most of the morning, so went to Haunted Mansion and waited stand by for 40 minutes. I was shocked DS actually enjoyed it since he wasn't sure about going at first. Went to Big Thunder next, then Peter Pan, then Splash Mountain. For some reason DS psyched himself out for it and was crying most of the time. I felt awful. He usually does fine on rides. His face on the ride photo is sheer terror!  After that we basically found a place for the parade and sat for 45 minutes on the ground. I was super annoyed at this point. Then when it started a bunch of adults stood in front of my kids (and some others) at the last minute. Our sit down meal that day was Crystal Palace at an odd time - 3:30, so it was lunch. We definitely needed the break! Luckily, the characters were making their rounds right when we sat down, so we got to see all of them right away. The kids were really excited to meet them all! The food was good, too, even though I don't generally like buffets. Bonus: they had a decent IPA for mom and dad. Our original plan after lunch was to go home because we could barely walk...but H got a fast pass for Aladdin. We left after that. H promised the kids swimming, so they did that for a few hours and we ate QS dinner at Riverside. 

11/24: Off day. We slept in and walked over to French Quarter to check out the pool and grounds and grabbed some snacks. The beignets were awesome! The kids decided they wanted to swim there, so we walked back and got our swimming gear ready. We had QS lunch at French Quarter. I liked the food options at FQ wayy better than Riverside. I had a really awesome salad for lunch. They also had the newer beverage stations compared the the 1980's style machines at RS. RS is way more spread out and felt more quiet though, so pros and cons to both I suppose. After swimming we got ready for dinner at Disney Springs at Homecomin. We thought we were fine with time, but the line for boat service to DS was really long. We were a little late to our reservation, but only waited 5 minutes. Dinner was amazing! I highly recommend it. H and I had awesome cocktails. He had the popular fried chicken. I got shrimp and grits and it was amazing. Our desserts were as big as our heads. We walked around DS a little, and let the kids pick out souvenirs at the Disney store. 

11/25: Animal Kingdom. One of my favorite days! I love AK. We got up early for extra magic hours. We went straight to Pandora for the River ride. After that we went over to Dino land and waited for Dinosaur to open. It was fine... I think the kids were scared. We did a few other rides in Dino land. Our first fast pass was for the safari, so before that we got a snack and coffees near Tusker House and listened to the live music. After the safari was a fast pass for Flight of Passage. Wow! Probably my favorite ride. I am so glad we got do experience it. Poor DS was scared for some reason again, but once it started he was fine. Next was Expedition Everest which was a really intense ride but the kids loved it! We had a late lunch at Yak and Yeti and we were really underwhelmed. H asked for a minor meal substitution and they couldn't do it. Maybe our menu choices were wrong. I didn't realize beforehand that its a national chain like Rainforest Cafe. I would have picked a non chain if I had known. We did the Bugs show, then H and DS did Everest again, and DD and me did the safari again. We got fast passes for the light show next. After that the kids wanted to do the Dino roller coaster again (?), so we did that and then left for the day. We got QS dinner back at our resort. 

11/26: MK again. We waited for over 40 minutes for a bus. Not a great start. Hoping it would have been lighter crowds, but it really wasn't. Fast passes were for Space Mountain, Enchanted Tales with Belle, and Mine Train. I think I was just done with Disney at this point, so i wasn't really into it. Once we finally got in, we went over to Big Thunder Mtn and went on it twice per the kids request. Next was a fast pass for Space Mountain. I forgot how dizzy this ride made me! I was feeling not so great after. We got QS lunch from Cosmic Cafe and ate outside near Space Mountain. I had to laugh at H...he had gotten used to a beer with lunch at the other parks and had to break it to him that they only had drinks at TS restaurants at MK. After lunch we went to Belle. It was really cool - I was really impressed and the kids enjoyed it. Next was Mine Train. Cool ride, but I was kind of underwhelmed. It was so short! At this point it was getting hard to walk around again. Kids wanted to do splash mountain again, so the 3 of them went and I walked around. I started to rain at this point. We waited for it to lighten up, but it only got worse so we got the ponchos out. Next H got a fast pass for the Little Mermaid ride. After that it was time for our dinner at Chef Mickeys, so we took the monorail over to Contemporary. Waited a long time to check in, and I was extra crabby. Thankfully, the characters came around right away. Food was okay, our server was not amazing. We went back to MK for the fireworks and the rain had started up again. DS didn't want to stay (he doesn't like the loudness of fireworks) so the two of us were quite the pair. I have a funny picture of him with his poncho on and a really sad face. Someday we will laugh at it. 

11/27: Departure. Our flight was at 1pm. I had some checked bags issues with the Magic Express people, but it got sorted out. When we were waiting for the bus, I realized I left my phone charger in the room, so I had to run back and get it. I made it back just in time. We flew Delta and the gate choices for lunch were terrible, plus one of the restrooms was out of order, so the lines were insane. More lines! Of course. So I went up to the Sky Lounge and snuck some cookies for the kids. They were so excited. Our flight home was easy - kids glued to their movie screens again and the FA's gave them extra snacks. There was a family in front of us on the plane with seven kids! Hats off to them. 

I am glad we did this trip, but am also glad it's over! We walked well over 20k steps each day, and our highest was 27k, which is 12.5 miles. The kids were champs and didn't complain once about being tired or their feet hurting. Overall they were pretty good. We had our moments in long lines though; and keeping them next to us in the crowds. I am sure I forgot some rides and shows above...we basically went on every ride at each park.

I am glad I did the Prime Now order...I got bottled water, snacks, and some beer and wine. I also bought these little backpacks for the kids as carry ons, but H and I wore them each day in the parks. They were perfect because they weren't too big but we were able to each kept a few things for ourselves and one kid each in the bag. For $10 you can't go wrong. 

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[curbsideprophet]

Thanks for the report. Glad you had a good trip.

[notsopicky]

Thank you for the great trip report. I would like to take my son to WDW at some point (he's 7), so I'm thinking in the next year or two is the sweet spot.

[bex]

Thanks for the report!

I feel like Magic Kingdom is just always crowded. I've been there on what is considered "low crowd" days" and it still has a crowded feel to me (although sometimes worse than others obviously.) I think it may have to do with the layout.